The post-World War 2 global order based on international law has been in decline for some years and is in the process of being killed off by Donald Trump. China and Russia are looking on with interest at this rupture. The democratic world desperately needs fresh leadership and this was always most likely to come from principled conservatives.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney received a standing ovation at Davos as the first leader to challenge the emerging, openly predatory new world order. In defying those favouring coercion rather than co-operation, he revived the political philosophy of Czech president Vaclav Havel and his doctrine of living in truth rather than submissive expediency. As Havel well knew from the fall of the Soviet Empire, a granite-faced system turns to cardboard when enough people no longer connive with it.
On a practical level, Carney is suggesting a new alliance of medium-sized democracies to counter division of the globe into spheres of interest dominated by great powers imposing their will by economic and military threat. At present through its Brics membership, South Africa is allying itself with some of the world’s most repressive and aggressive states. And as the United States turns towards racist authoritarianism, the emergence of a bloc of democracies that appreciate our inclusive constitution would appear to be a golden opportunity not to be missed.
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